Machine for cleaning elongated objects



Oct. ,1, 1963 A. c. GANNON' MACHINE FOR cmmmc .ELONGATED OBJECTS [F ledMay 10, 1962 '6 Sheets-Sheet 1 0 00i ocnouoo INVENTOR ALFRED C. GANNONHood,GuAt #Inibh AHorneys Oct. 1, 1963 A. c. GANNON 3,105,255

MACHINE FOR CLEANING ELLONGATED OBJECTS I Filed May 10, 1962 6Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ALFRED C. GANNoN Hvocl. GuAt Iru'Ah A'HorngsOct. 1, 1963 A. c. GANNON 3,105,255

2 I MACHINE FOR CLEANING ELONGATED OBJECTS Filed May 10, 1962 I eSheets-Sheeta The . INVENTOR. ALFRED C. GANNoN Hvod, aw 1w A++ovn9$ Oct.1, 1963 c. GANNON 3,105,255

MACHINE FOR CLEANING ELONGATED OBJECTS Filed May 10, 1962 v eSheets-Shet 4 IHIHHHHHHHHIIHII ql'l'l'l'l'l'l HIHIIH IHI I 1 mm!\WHIIIHHIHHHIIIIH hum HHIHIIHIIHHHHIIIIH INVENTOR ALFRED C. GANNON vHood, Gust 1w Aflorneys Oct. 1,1963 A. c. GANNON MACHINE FOR CLEANINGELONGATED OBJECTS.

6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 16. 1962- INVENTOR. ALFRED C. GANNON Homi, Gmlhlbh Afiorneps Oct. 1, 1963 A. c. GANNON 3,105,255

MACHINE FOR CLEANING ELONGATED OBJECTS Filed May 10, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet6 m Mo w i F H A IheVENTOR. LFRED .GANNON Flg. lo Hood, Gun. 1w

A'Horngs United States Patent 3,105,255 MACl'fl If. FGR CLEANKNGELONGATED GBJET Alfred C. Gannon, Abilene, Tex. (R0. Box 123ll2, Prestonfitation, 6127B Eanrlera, Dallas 25, Tex.) Filed May 10, 1962, Ser. No.193,795 14 lIlaims. (Cl. 15-88) The present invention relates tocleaning, and is particularly concerned with the provision of animproved machine primarily designed for cleaning elongated objects,generally known in the trade as smokesticks. Smokesticks are used forthe suspension of comestibles such as, for instance, sausages in smokingand/or cooking chambers. They are usually, but not necessarily, made oflight metal and, while they may take the shape of cylindrical rods, ithas become customary to use, instead, sticks of generally fluted crosssectional configuration so that any such stick is usually formed todefine a plurality of longitudinally extending concavities of variousshapes. Usually, the cross sectional shape of any such concavity isnon-circular; and this fact poses a problem in connection with theeffective cleaning of smokesticks.

It will be apparent that, when strings of sausages are draped over asupport of the character in question and are subjected to smoking and/or cooking treatment over extended periods, grease, bits of meat andsmoke residue will inevitably accumulate on the support element and, inmany instances, will adhere thereto with considerable tenacity.Obviously, a smokestick in such a condition cannot be reused until ithas been thoroughly and efiectively cleansed. It is a primary object ofthe present invention to provide a machine to which such sticks may besuccessively fed and in which the smokesticks will be thus effectivelycleansed as they progress through the machine and before they aredischarged therefrom.

Because of the above described configuration of smokesticks which arepresently available on the market, it will be apparent that theirsurfaces cannot be eifectively scrubbed by brushes or other cleaningelements which are mounted to rotate upon axes parallel with the lengthof the sticks. A brush which is mounted to rotate upon an axisperpendicular to the stick length can engage a moving stick only in alongitudinally-short area at any instant. According to the presentinvention, therefore, I provide brush means arranged to circumscribe theexternal surface of a stick passing through the machine and to conformto the external, cross sectional configuration of the stick; and Ireciprocate the brush means rapidly in the line of travel of the workpiece through the machine, whereby every integer in the length of thework piece is engaged, for an appreciable period of time, by thescrubbing action of the brush means.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a machine of thecharacter described, a novel feed means whereby work pieces aresuccessively carried through the machine at a controlled rate and aredischarged therefrom. In one form of my invention which, for somepurposes, is preferred, the feed means automatically confers anintermittent travel upon the work pieces as they pass through themachine.

A further object of the invention is to provide novel brush meanscomprising a carriage mounted for reciprocation in the line of passageof work pieces through the machine and supporting a plurality ofcontoured, individual brushes cooperating to surround and engagecompletely the external surface of a work piece, the brushes being sosupported upon the carriage that they may be concurrently movedgenerally radially away from the line of travel of the work piece butare normally resiliently urged toward that line.

3-,w'5l55 Patented Get. 1, 1%63 'ice A still further object of theinvention is to provide, in association with such a brush means, noveldrive mechanism for reciprocating the said carriage in the line oftravel of work pieces, at a velocity exceeding the travel velocity ofthe work pieces.

Still another object of the invention is to provide, in a machine of thecharacter described and in association with such reciprocating brushmeans, a means for forcibly flushing the Work pieces with cleaningliquid, during the scrubbing action of the brush means, such flushingmeans, however, being stationarily mounted so that it does notparticipate in the reciprocating action of the brush means.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a machine of thecharacter described, means for recirculating the flushing liquid withina washing chamber in which the reciprocating brush means is mounted,together with means for deluging work pieces, after they emerge from thewashing chamber, with rinse liquid in a rinsing chamber whereby alltraces of the washing liquid will be effectively removed from the workpieces before they are discharged from the machine, the machine beingprovided with withdrawal feed means for discharging the work pieces fromthe machine.

Still another object of the invention is to provide, in such a machine,brush means of such character as to permit, through a simple adjustment,substitution of one form of brush contour for another in order toaccommodate the machine to different contours of work pieces; or,alternatively, to substitute a fresh set of bristles for a worn setwithout dismemberment of the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in such a machine,various facile adjustments for accommodating the machine to operate uponvarying sizes and shapes of work pieces.

Further objects of the invention will appear as the descriptionproceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention maybe embodied in the forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings,attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings areillustrative only, and that change may be made in the specificconstructions illustrated and described, so long as the scope of theappended claims is not violated.

FIG. 1A is a side view of the upper portion of a machine constructed inaccordance with the present invention, parts being broken away forclarity of illustration;

FIG. 1B is a similar view of the lower portion of the same machine;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine with its top Wall removed;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the machine as seen from the right handend of FIGS. 1A and 113;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional View taken substantiallyon the line 44 of FIG. 3 and illustratin-g parts of a one-way drivemechanism for the input feed means;

'FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary section taken substantially on theline 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view looking toward theleft from a position between the shafts of the input feed mechanism inFIG. 1A;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, fnagmental sectional view illustrating the mannerin which the brush elements of one configuration cooperate with one formof commerciallyknown smokestick;

FIG. 8 is a similar View illustrating the conformation and mode ofcooperation of another form of brush elements with another form ofsmokestick;

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 are similar views illustrating still further forms ofsmokesticks and their cooperating brush elements; and

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary side elevation of a modified form of input feedmeans.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeralindicates generally a vat or tank, which may be referred to as a frame,and comprising side walls 21 and 22, end walls 23 and 24 and a bottomwall 25. At a suitable point between the end walls 23 and 24, apartition 26 spans the tank and has a substantially water-tightassociation with the side walls 2-1 and 22 and the bottom wall to definea wash chamber 27 and a rinse chamber 23 within the tank 2%. The tank ispreferably, but not necessarily, provided with a removable top wall 29which is preferably formed of transparent Plexiglas or its equivalent.

Perforations 39, 31 and '32 are formed on a common axis respectively inthe end wall 24, the partition 26- and the end wall 23 to constitutework guides. Preferably, bushing means (not shown) will be mounted inthe said perforations to improve the work guiding function.

It is recognized that smokesticks sometimes become slightly deformedwhile in use as a result of the loads supported thereon and their longsubjection to elevated temperatures. As will appear below, the inputfeed means of the present invention tends to straighten such sticks inone direction, but guard means 3-3 may preferably be mounted upon thepartition 26 (and/or upon the end wall 24, if desired) to tend tostraighten and guide the smokesticks in a direction perpendicular tosaid one direction.

The input feed means of the present invention is indicated generally bythe reference numeral 34, while withdrawal feed means is indicatedgenerally by the reference numeral 35. The feed means 34 comprises aframe 36 suitably supported near the end wall 24. A floor plate 37 isrigidly mounted in said frame a significant distance below the commonaxis of the guide means 36, 31, 32. A bed plate 38 is supported, fromsaid floor plate, upon a plurality of coiled springs '39 which arerespectively sleeved on pins 40 penetrating the floor plate 37, carrymgadjusting nuts 41 below the floor plate and having heads which engagethe uppermost surfaces of bearing blocks 42 and 43 mounted :on the bedplate 38'. Thus the bearing blocks 42 and 43 are resiliently supportedbelow the above-mentioned common axis and their degree of approach tothat axis is adjustably determined by the nuts 41 on the pins 40.

There are two blocks 42 and two blocks 43, and a shaft 44 is journalledin the blocks 42 while a shaft 45 is journalled in the blocks 43.Sprockets 46 and 47 are supported, respectively, on the shafts 44 and 45and a block type belt 48 is trained over said sprockets. The nuts 41 areso adjusted that, when a work piece 162 is fed into the mechanism, thework-engaging surface of the upper run of the belt 48 will be slightlydepressed against the tendency of the springs 39, whereby the force ofthose springs will be exerted against the work piece through said beltrun.

A significant distance above the common axis of the guides 343, 3d, 32,a support plate 49 is fixedly mounted in the frame 35. A carrier plate50 is supported from the plate 49 by means of springs 51 sleeved on pins52 and confined between the heads of those pins and the plate 4-9, thepins 52 carrying nuts 53 which bear against the lower surface of theplate 49 under the influence of the springs 51. Bearing pairs 54 and 55mounted on the carrier plate 50 provide journal mountings for shafts 56and "57 upon which are supported grooved idler wheels 53 and 59 Thewheels 58 and 59 are so positioned that, when a work piece 162 isengaged in the feed mechanism, they engage and guide the work piece andconstitute a backing support for the piece against the force exertedupon said piece, through the belt 48, by the springs 39. Thework-engaging surfaces of the wheels 58 and 59 are located above thecommon axis of the guide perforations by a dimension substantially equalto the dimension by which the work-engaging surface of the upper run ofthe belt 48 is located below that common axis.

It will be seen that, to accommodate the machine to work pieces ofsmaller cross sectional dimensions, the plate 59 may be separated fromthe plate 49, against the tendency of the springs 51, and shims may beinserted between the plates 49 and 50.

An clectnic motor 60 (FIG. 1B) is suitably mounted adjacent the tank andis connected, by a belt 61, to drive a pulley 62 on a shaft 63. It willbe recognized, of course, that a chain and sprockets might besubstituted for the belt 61 and its pulleys; and whereover belts andpulleys are mentioned herein, those terms are intended to include chainsand sprockets. The shaft 63 carries, also, a pulley 64 which isconnected, by a belt 65, to drive a pulley 66 on a shaft 67. A pulley 68on said shaft 67 is connected by a belt 69 to drive a pulley 70 on ashaft 71 (FIGS. 1A, 2 and 3).

The shaft 71 carries a rotor 72 to which one end of a pitman 73 isoperatively connected as at 74. The opposite end of the pitman 73 isconnected, as at 75, to one end of a double lever 76 which is fixedrelative to an annular housing 77 (FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) journalled on theshaft 45. The housing 77 carries a radially-reciprocable, spring pressedpawl 78 cooperable with a cog 79 fixed to the shaft 45, thusconstituting a one-way clutch between the lever 76 and the shaft 45. Itwill be clear that, as the shaft 71 is driven by the motor 69, the lever76 will be oscillated about the axis of the shaft. As the lever moves ina clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1A, the pawl 78 will be cammedoutwardly to pass the teeth of the cog 7?; and as the lever moves in acounter-clockwise direction, the pawl 78 will engage the cog teeth toturn the shaft 45 in a counter-clockwise direction, thus advancing theupper run of the belt 43 toward the left, whereby the work piece 162will be correspondingly moved.

A plurality of guide means or bearings is supported from each of the endwall 24- and partition 26. As shown, these comprise a pair of upperguide bearings 81 and 81 disposed upon a common axis and two pairs ofguide bearings 82 and 83, the bearings of each pair being disposed upona common axis. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, thecommon axis of the bearings and 81 is disposed above the axis of thework guides 30, 31 and 32 and in a common vertical plane therewith,while the respective pairs of Ibearings 82. and 83 are dis posed belowthe axis of the work guides and are equally and oppositely spaced fromthe mentioned vertical plane.

A carriage is indicated generally by the reference numeral 84 andcomprises a slide rod 85 reciprocably mounted in the bearings 80 and 81and two slide rods 36 and 87, each mounted in one of the hearing pairs82 and 83.

Referring particularly to FIG. 5, it will be seen that a lever 88 isjournal-led, intermediate its ends, upon the slide rod 85, a similarlever 89 is similarly mounted on the rod 87 and still another lever 99is similarly mounted on the rod 86. The three levers 88, 89 and 99 aredisposed substautially in a common transverse plane closely adjacent theend wall 24. At a point near the partition 26, three idler levers 91, 92and 93 (FIGS. 1A and 2) are similarly mounted, respectively, on theslides 85, 86 and 87. All six of the above mentioned levers are heldagainst axial movement relative totheir respective rods by collars 94,or other equivalent retaining means.

One end or arm 95 of the lever 88' extends generally toward the line oftravel of work pieces through the machine and is formed to receive atrunnion 96 at one end of a brush unit 97, a similar trunnion at theother end of said brush unit being similarly supported from the lever91, whereby the length of the brush unit 97 is supported in substantialparallelism with the line of travel of work pieces through the machine.

Similarly, the inner end or arm 98 of the lever 89 is formed to receivea trunnion 99 at one end of a similar brush unit 1843, the trunnion atthe opposite end of the brush unit 100 being similarly supported fromthe lever 92. in the same way, the inner arm 101 of the lever 98supports a trunnion 102 at one end of a similar brush unit 163, theopposite end of said brush unit being similarly supported in the lever93.

Each brush unit, as shown, comprises four sets of bristles or othersuitable Wearing surfaces, 184, 185, 106 and 1417 extending radiallyoutwardly, at angular intervals of 90, from the core of the brush unit.As will be more fully explained hereinafter, each bristle set is sodesigned as to define, at its distal end, a contour corresponding to thecontour of that portion of the external surface of the work piece withwhich it is set to cooperate. Suitable means (not shown) is provided forretaining the trunnions of each brush unit against rotational movementrelative to the lever arms from which it is supported, in any one offour selective positions, 90 removed from each other. Thus, after aperiod of use and when, for instance, the bristle set 194 has becomeworn, the brush unit 103 may be turned through 90 about its own axisrelative to the lever arms 101 and 93, to move the bristle set 164 outof cooperative relation to a work piece and to shift the bristle set 105into such cooperative relation; and it will be clear that suchadjustment of any one of the brush units may be effected independentlyof the other brush units in the assembly.

The other arm of the lever 88 extends generally away from the line ofmovement of the work piece through the machine, and is pivotallyattached, as at 108, to an actuator ring 111. The outer arms or" thelevers 39 and 90 are similarly pivotally connected to said ring 111 at109 and 115, respectively. Thus, the ring 1-11 is supported upon theouter arms of the levers 88, 89 and 90 for oscillatory movement aboutthe axis which is common to the work guides 36, 31 and 32. An actuatorarm 112 extends radially outwardly from the ring 111, through a suitableslot (not shown) in the top wall or cover 29, where it is accessible formanipulation. It will be clear that, when the arm 112 is moved towardthe left, as viewed in FIG. 5, the lever arms 95, 98 and 191 will beturned in counterclockwise directions about the slide rods 85, 8'7 and86, respectively, whereby the brush units 97 -8 and 103 will be movedsubstantially radially away from the line of travel of work piecesthrough the machine. A coiled spring 113 is connected at one end to thearm 112 and at its opposite end to anchor means 114 on, for instance,the wall 24, and continuously yieldably urges the am 112 toward theright, thus urging the brush units into the positions illustrated inFIG. 7, whereby their several distal ends conforrnably engage a workpiece disposed within the lengths of the several brush units.

An eccentric 115 (FIG. 1A) on the shaft 67 carries a collar 116 (FIGS.1A and 3). A suitably mounted bracket 117 provides a stationary mountingfor a pivot pin 118 upon which is pivotally mounted, between its ends, arocker arm 119. The lower end of said arm is cperativeiy connected, asat 129, with an eye pin 121 fixedly projecting radially from the collar116, whereby rotation of the shaft 67 will cause oscillation of therocker arm 119 about its pivot 118.

A web or triangular ring 122 spans and is fixed to the slide rods 85, 86and 87; and the other end of the rocker arm 119 is pivoted as at 123 toa pin 124 operatively en gaged with the web 122. Thus, oscillation ofthe rocker arm 119 will drive the carriage 84 through a reciprooatorystroke; and the parts are so proportioned and designed that the velocityof the carriage in its movement toward the left as viewed in FIG. 1Aexceeds the velocity of the work piece under the influence of the feedmeans 34.

Thus, during the period within which any integer of the length of a workpiece is within the length of the brush assembly, it will be constantlysubjected, throughout its entire external surface, to the scrubbingaction of the brush assembly.

A motor driven pump 125 (FIG. .1 13) is suitably suspended from themachine frame with its intake in open communication, through a conduit126 and perforated filter unit 127, with the interior of the washchamber 27 in which a suitable volume of liquid normally stands. Thatliquid may be plain water but it will preferably be a detergent solutionof any suitable kind having a strong tendency to loosen fat, meatparticles and other foreign substances from metal surfaces. A stand pipe128 is connected to the delivery port of the pump 1-25 and supports, atits upper end, an arcuate pipe 129 which terminates in an elongatedheader 13%} disposed in substantial parallelism with the line of travelof work pieces through the machine and in the vicinity of the brushassembly, said header being provided, at suitably spaced points in itslength, with spray ports 131 (FIGS. 1A and 5). At its opposite end, thearcuate pipe 129 communicates with a second header 132, similar inconstruction and disposition to the header and a second arcuate pipe1'33 communicates with the pipe 129 and carries, at its distal end, afurther longitudinally-extending spray header 134. As shown, the arcuatepipes will clear the several brush units as the carriage 84reciprocates, and the several headers are disposed generally betweenadjacent brush units. Thus, the spray device need not participate incarriage reciprocation but will continuously flush that portion of awork piece which is currently within the infiuence of the brushassembly, with a detergent liquid.

Referring again to FIG. 1 B, it will be seen that a conduit 135 opensthrough the floor of the wash chamber 27 and leads, through a valve 136,to a branch of a junction fitting 137 which is connected in a waste pipe138 opening through the floor of the rinse chamber 28. Normally, thevalve 136 will be closed, whereby the body of liquid in the wash chamberwill be retained for recirculation by the pump 125. When that body ofliquid becomes unduly contaminated, however, the valve 136 will beopened and the liquid in the wash chamber will be drained away, later tobe replaced after closure of the valve 136.

A supply pipe 139 (FIGS. 2 and 3), controlled by a valve 140, leads froma suitable source (not shown) of supply of clean rinse water to a spraycoil 141 disposed -in the rinse chamber 28 and circumscribing the lineof travel of work pieces through the rinse chamber. When the valve isopen, of course work pieces traveling through the rinse chamber will bedeluged with clean water to remove all traces of the detergent mixture;and that water, falling to the floor of the rinse chamber, will becontinually drained away through the waste pipe 138.

The withdrawal feed means 35 (FIG. 1A) comprises a frame 1-42 suitablysupported from the pantition 26 in the rinse chamber 28. A floor plate143 supports bearing blocks 144 through springs 145 sleeved on pins 146having nuts 147 for cooperation with the floor plate 143, in a manneranalogous to the support of the plate 38. A shaft 148 is journalled inthe bearings 14-4 and supports a roller 149 having a frictional,peripheral surface resiliently urged into driving engagement with a workpiece traveling through the rinse chamber 28. A support plate 150 issecured in the frame 142 and carrier plates 151 supporting bearings 152.are supported from said plate 150 by means of springs 153 sleeved onpins 154 carrying nuts 155. A shaft 156 is journa'lled in the bearings152 and supports a grooved wheel 157 similar to the Wheels 58 and 59. Apulley or sprocket 158 is mounted on the shaft 148 outside the tank 20and a belt or chain 159 is trained over said pulley or sprocket 158 anda pulley or sprocket 160 on the shaft 45, whereby the roll 149 is drivensynchronously with the belt 48. An idler tensioning pulley or sprocket161 preferably engages the member 159 between the shafts 45 and 148.

The currently most widely used form of smokestick is that illustrated at162 in FIGS. 3, 5, 6 and 7, and is formed to provide a cross sectionalshape comprising three equiangularly spaced fins 163, 164 and 165-,defining itherebetween longitudinally extending concavities 166, 167 and168.

Preferably, each block of the belt 48 will carry a pad 169 of frictionmaterial; and, as is most clearly shown in FIG. 6, each such pad willpreferably be contoured, on its exposed surface, to define aprotuberance 179 substantially conforming to one of the concavities, forinstance 166, of the work piece 162, thereby increasing theeffectiveness with which the work piece is gripped by the feed means 34.As is clearly illustrated, likewise in FIG. 6, when the protuberance 170is engaged in the concavity 166, the fin 163 of the piece 162 isfrictionally engaged in the grooves of the wheels 58 md 59, whereby thework piece is effectively gripped for advancement by the mechanism 34. 1

As is most clearly shown in FIG. 7 when this type of smokestick is to becleaned, the active bristle sets will be contoured, at their distalends, to fit snugly within the respective concavities and to overliesubstantially onehalf of the distal edge of each fin bounding thatconcavity, so that the three bristle sets cooperate to engage all pointson the external surface of the smokestick 162.

When, however, a simple cylindrical rod, such as that suggested at 162in FIG. 8, is to be cleaned, the distal ends of the bristle sets 104' ofthe respective brush units will be shaped as indicated in that figure,to accomplish a corresponding result.

In FIG. 9 I have shown another commercial form of smokestick 16 whichmay be made from sheet metal bent to provide sloping sides converging ina rounded upper ridge and flaring at their lower, distal edges to defineshallow external lateral concavities and a deep, sharply V-shapedinternal concavity 171. In this case, the distal ends of the bristlesets of the several brush units will be individually shaped, with thebrush unit 172 designed to penetrate and conform to the deep concavity171.

A somewhat similar commercial shape 162" is shown in FIG. 10; wherein Ihave shown allochirally shaped bristle sets to engage the externalsurfaces of the smokestick and a special bristle set 173 to cooperatewith the internal surfaces of the deep concavity 185 of this form ofsmokestick.

When the machine is to be used to clean smokesticks of the type shown inFIG. 9 or FIG. 10, the protuberances 170 of the belt pads 169 willpreferably be contoured to engage conformably in the deep concavity 171or 185.

In FIG. 11, I have shown still another form of smokest-ick 16 which isclosely similar to the form of FIG. 7 except that its fins terminate indouble barbs as at 174. In this figure, I have shown, also, the contourto which the distal ends of the bristle sets are formed in order toaccomplish effective scrubbing action on this form of smokestick.

While there are advantages, as suggested above, in the intermittent workfeed provided by the feed mechanism 34, there may be some applicationsof the present machine in which such intermittent feed is unnecessary;and in FIG. 12 I have illustrated a modified drive for a similar feedmechanism 34. As there shown, the shaft 45' carries, in addition to itssprocket, a pulley 180. A belt 175 is trained over the pulley 68 andover a pulley 176 on a shaft 177 which carries, also, a pulley 178which, through a belt 179, drives the pulley 18% to establish acontinuous drive for the belt 43.

In both forms of feed mechanism, preferably a hearing plate .183 will besupported from the plate 38 and the belt 48 will be provided withrollers 184 which will be supported upon the bearing plate 183positively to prevent sag of the upper run of the belt 48 in the regionbetween the sprockets 46 and 47.

In FIG. 3 I have illustrated an electric junction box 182, through whichthe motor for the pump 12-5 is supplied.

Since the operation of the machine has been fully outlined by adescription of the operation of each subassernbly immediately followingits mechanical explanation, only a brief rsunr of operation appears tobe necessary at this point. Smokesticks are manually suppliedsuccessively to the feed mechanism 34. As the belt as is driven, a stickengaged between the belt and the rollers 58 and 59 will be advancedtoward the left as seen in FIG. 1A. 'Because the stick is tightlygripped between the advancing belt and the spaced rollers 58 and 59, anyvertical distortion of the stick will to a large extent be corrected asthe stick passes through the mechanism 34. The leading end of the stickwill pass through the web 122, will enter the guide 3% and will progressinto the influence of the reciprocating brush assembly and will passtherefrom between the converging plates of the guard 33, whereby anylateral or horizontal distortion of the stick will be, to a largeextent, corrected and the stick Will be caused to enter the guide 31.Meantime, the stick will be subjected to the flushing action of thespray from the headers 13%), 132 and 134 and to the attritional actionof the brush assembly, whereby foreign particles adhering to the workwill be dislodged. Since the action of the flushing liquid will beimproved if it is held at an elevated temperature, I prefer to arrangeone or more electrical heater units 181 in the wash chamber 27, belowthe level of the body of liquid normally standing therein, as suggestedin FIGS. 13 and 2.

As the first of a succession of smokesticks approaches the brushassembly, the actuator arm 112 will be moved to the left, as viewed inFIG. 5, to separate the brush units and permit easy entry of the stickinto the assembly. Once the stick has entered, the arm 112 will bereleased, whereby the spring 113 will resiliently return the brush unitsand hold them in cooperative engagement with the advancing work pieces.Sticks Will be fed to the machine at a rate such that a following stickwill enter the brush assembly before a leading stick leaves thatassembly, so that manipulation of the actuator will not ordinarily benecessary except at the beginning of a run.

As each stick emerges from the guide 31, it will be gripped between theroller 149 and the idler Wheel 157 of the withdrawal feed means 35 andwill be advanced through the rinse coil 141, where it will be floodedwith clean rinse water, and through the guide 32 for discharge from themachine. The means 35 further restrains work which has left the inputfeed means against retrograde movement under the influence of thereciprocating carriage 84 and its brush assemblies.

While I presently believe that bristled units such as those illustratedat 97, the and 103 of the drawings herein constitute the optirnum formof brush means for use in the present machine, it will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that, as suggested in the opening paragraphs ofthe present specification, other forms of cleaning elements might beused in place of bristled brushes. Thus, for instance, stainless steelsponges, or other known types of erosive or abrasive materials, properlycontoured for effective cooperation with the selected form ofsmokestick, might be employed in the machine; and wherever reference ismade herein to brush means, or to bristles, it is to be understood thatI intend to include such equivalent forms of cleaning elements or thewear surfaces thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a machine for cleaning elongated work pieces, an elongated frame,work guide means supported from said frame and cooperable with suchpieces to guide the same during their longitudinal passage through themachine, carriage guide means supported from said frame adjacent saidwork guide means, a carriage supported from said carriage guide meansfor reciprocation in the line of passage of such pieces through themachine, a plurality of cleaning elements carried by said carriage,arranged in a peripheral series about the line of passage of such piecesthrough the machine and proportioned and designed, at their mutuallyadjacent faces, cooperatively to engage the entire external surface ofsuch a piece as it passes said carriage, a power source, feed meansengage-able with such a work piece to forward the same through saidcarriage, means connecting said power source to drive said feed meansintermittently, a rocker arm, means connecting said power source tooscillate said rocker arm, and means operatively connecting said rockerarm to reciprocate said carriage upon oscillation of said arm.

2. In a machine for cleaning elongated work pieces, an elongated frame,work guide means supported from said frame and cooperable with suchpieces to guide the same during their longitudinal passage through themachine, carriage guide means supported from said frame adjacent saidwork guide means, a carriage supported from said carriage guide meansfor reciprocation in the line of passage of such pieces through themachine, a plurality of cleaning elements carried by said carriage,arranged in a peripheral series about the line of passage of such piecesthrough the machine and proportioned and designed, at their mutuallyadjacent faces, cooperatively to engage the entire external surface ofsuch a piece as it passes said carriage, a power source, feed meansengageable with such a work piece to forward the same through saidcarriage, means connecting said power source to drive said feed means, arocker arm, means connecting said power source to oscillate said rockerarm, and means operatively connecting said rocker arm to reciprocatesaid carriage at a lineal velocity exceeding the velocity at which saidfeed means drives such a work piece, upon oscillation of said arm.

3. In a machine for cleaning elongated work pieces, an elongated frame,work guide means supported from said frame and cooperable with suchpieces to guide the same during their longitudinal passage through themachine, a carriage comprising a plurality of slides paralleling theline of passage of .such pieces through the machine and arranged in aperipheral series about said line, a plurality of levers, each mounted,intermediate its ends, on a separate one of said slides and held againstmovement longitudinal'ly relative to its slide but oscillable about theaxis of its slide, one end of each lever extending generally toward theline of passage of Work pieces through the machine and carrying acleaning element, and the other end of each lever extending generallyaway from said line, and actuator means operatively connected to saidother ends of all of said leverand oscilla-ble about said line to movesaid cleaning elements toward and away from said line, means biasingsaid actuator means in a direction to urge said cleaning elements towardsaid line, guide means supported from said frame and reciprocablysupporting said slides, a member fixed relative to all of said slides, apower source, a rocker arm operatively connected to said member, andmeans connecting said power source to oscillate said rocker arm.

4. In a machine for cleaning elongated work pieces, an elongated frame,work guide means supported from said frame and coopera ble with suchpieces to guide the same during their longitudinal passage through themachine, a carriage comprising a plurality of slides paralleling theline of passage of such pieces through the machine and arranged in aperipheral series about said line, a first plurality of levers, eachmounted, intermediate its ends, on a separate one of said slides andheld against movement longitudinally relative to its slide butoscillable about the axis of its slide, one end of each lever extendinggenerally toward the line of passage of work pieces through the machine,a second and corresponding plurality of levers, each mounted on aseparate one of said slides and held against movement longitudinallyrelative to its slide but oscillable about the "axis of its slide, oneend of each lever extending generally toward the line of passage of workpieces through the machine, a brush suspended between said one end ofeach lever of the first plurality and said one end of the correspondinglever of the second plurality with the distal ends of the bristles ofeach brush directed generally toward said line, and actuator meansoperatively connected to the other ends of all of the levers of saidfirst plurality and oscillable about said line to move said brushestoward and away from said line, means biasing said actuator means in adirection to urge said brushes toward said line, guide means supportedfrom said frame and reciprocably supporting said slides, a member fixedrelative to all of said slides, a power source, a rocker arm operativelyconnected to said member, and means connecting said power source tooscillate said rocker arm.

5. The machine of claim 4 in which, when said brushes are substantiallyat their positions of closest approach to said line, the distal ends ofthe bristles of the several brushes cooperate to define a substantiallyclosed figure.

6. The machine of claim 5 in which the closed figure so definedcorresponds to the external, cross-sectional contour of such a workpiece.

7. The machine of claim 6 in which each brush has a longitudinal axisand is mounted for rotational adjustment about its own longitudinal axisrelative to the lever ends from which it is suspended, each brush beingprovided with a plurality of corresponding sets of bristles and eachbristle set of each brush being angularly offset, relative to each otherbristle set, about said longitudinal axis of its brush.

8. The machine of claim 4 in which each brush has a longitudinal axisand is mounted for rotational adjustment about its own longitudinal axisrelative to the lever ends from which it is suspended, each brush beingprovided with a plurality of corresponding sets of bristles and eachbristle set of each brush being angularly offset, relative to each otherbristle set, about said longitudinal axis of its brush.

9. The machine of claim 4 including feed means engageable with such awork piece to forward the same through the machine, and means connectingsaid power source to drive said feed means.

10. The machine of claim 9 in which said connecting means drives saidfeed means intermittently.

11. The machine of claim 9 in which said rocker arm drives said carriageat a lineal velocity exceeding the velocity at which said feed meansforwards such a work piece.

12. The machine of claim 4 including feed means engageable with such awork piece to forward the same through the machine, and means connectingsaid power source to drive said feed means, said feed means comprising ablock-type belt disposed with one run slightly offset in one directionfrom the axis of said work guide means, the exposed surface of said onebelt run being formed of friction material, idling pressure meansslightly offset in the opposite direction from said axis and engageablewith a work piece engaged by said one belt run, and spring meansyieldably resisting separation between said pressure means and saidbelt.

13. The machine of claim 12 for use with work pieces whosecross-sectional contour is such as to define a longitudinally-continuousconcavity, in which said exposed surface of said one belt run is shapedto fit snugly and fr-ictionally within such concavity.

14. In a machine of the class described, work feed means comprising acontinuous, block-type belt, a pair of shafts journalled on spaced,parallel axes, drive wheel means on said shafts, said belt beingdrivingly trained 1 1 1 2 over said drive wheel means to define beltruns, the ex- References Cited in the file of this patent posed face ofsaid belt being formed of friction material, a further shaft, aperipherally-grooved Wheel supported UNITED STATES PATENTS t on saidrfurther shaft for rotation about the axis thereof, 1,056,403 Crane Mar.18, 1913 with its groove presented toward one run of said belt, 52,179,331 Sedgwick 14 1938 spring means yieldably resisting separationof said belt 2 251 291 Reiohelt 1 Aug 1941 and said Wheel, a powersource, a rotor driven from said power source, a lever mounted foroscillation about the 2282628 Whaml et May 12, 1942 axis of said oneshaft, a one-Way clutch between said 2,319,481 L CI-K ri Jan. 14, 1958lever and said one shaft, and a pitman connected between 10 said rotorand said lever.

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1. IN A MACHINE FOR CLEANING ELONGATED WORK PIECES, AN ELONGATED FRAME,WORK GUIDE MEANS SUPPORTED FROM SAID FRAME AND COOPERABLE WITH SUCHPIECES TO GUIDE THE SAME DURING THEIR LONGITUDINAL PASSAGE THROUGH THEMACHINE, CARRIAGE GUIDE MEANS SUPPORTED FROM SAID FRAME ADJACENT SAIDWORK GUIDE MEANS, A CARRIAGE SUPPORTED FROM SAID CARRIAGE GUIDE MEANSFOR RECIPROCATION IN THE LINE OF PASSAGE OF SUCH PIECES THROUGH THEMACHINE, A PLURALITY OF CLEANING ELEMENTS CARRIED BY SAID CARRIAGEARRANGED IN A PERIPHERAL SERIES ABOUT THE LINE OF PASSAGE OF SUCH PIECESTHROUGH THE MACHINE AND PROPORTIONED AND DESIGNED, AT THEIR MUTUALLYADJACENT FACES, COOPERATIVELY TO ENGAGE THE ENTIRE EXTERNAL SURFACE OFSUCH A PIECE AS IT PASSES SAID CARRIAGE, A POWER SOURCE, FEED MEANSENGAGEABLE WITH SUCH A WORK PIECE TO FORWARD THE SAME THROUGH SAIDCARRIAGE, MEANS CONNECTING SAID POWER SOURCE TO DRIVE SAID FEED MEANSINTERMITTENTLY, A ROCKER ARM, MEANS CONNECTING SAID POWER SOURCE TOOSCILLATE